Tasty recipes from chef Ronit Penso's kitchen

Shrimps, Flowering Chives and Rice Flour Fritters

When I saw a bunch of flowering chives at the store, it immediately drew my attention. Smelling the flowers, I was expecting, probably due to their lavender color, that they would have a sweet floral smell. However, to my surprise, they had fresh onion scent, similar to that of the chives. I later learned that the flowers are edible and can be used in the same way chives is used.

As I had shrimps and chives fritters in mind, it was an easy decision to add the flowers into the mix. In order not to mask the chives flavor and scent, I went ahead with adding minimal seasoning to the batter.
I decided to use rice flour in the batter, instead of white flour, so that the fritters will be lighter, and also to keep them gluten free, due to a special request.
The fritters came out light and tasty. A simple dipping sauce on the side, which also included chives flowers, added a nice finishing touch. Try it and enjoy.

Notes:
* If you can’t find flowering chives, increase the amount of chives instead.
* White rice flour is available in most stores, or online. I found that the fritters absorbed very little oil while frying, so that’s another good reason to use it.
* Firm white fish, or crab meat, can be used instead of the shrimps.

1. In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with the water and set aside. Place the shrimps in a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, and chop roughly.
2. Separate the blossoms from the stems. Set aside a few, for decoration, and roughly chop the rest. Separate the tender chives from the tough stems, and discard them. Chop the chives roughly.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with the salt and pepper. Add the rice flour mix, and whisk together, to a smooth batter. Add the chopped shrimps, chives and flowers, leaving 1 Tbs aside, for the dipping sauce, and mix well.
4. Heat oil for shallow frying in a medium pan, over medium-high heat. Add heaped spoonfuls of the batter and flatten the tops lightly. Fry until golden on both sides and place over paper towels, to absorb extra oil. Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side, and the dipping sauce.
5. The dipping sauce: mix the mayonnaise, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, ketchup, mustard, lemon juice and ½ Tbs chopped chives flowers. Mix well and place in a ramekin. Sprinkle the remaining ½ Tbs chopped flowers on top, and serve with the fritters.

Love this Ronit – shrimps into fritters – yes! I use edible flowers all the time and my chives are blooming too. The flowers do have a slight onion taste but don’t eat the hard stalks they bloom on. I made cupcakes a few years ago using them :)

Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the fritters. They turned out so tasty, no doubt I’ll be making them again soon.
I figured a savvy gardener like yourself would know more about chives and its flowers! I did notice the hard stem that holds the flower, and noted on the instructions to remove it. I will look for your cupcakes recipe using them. :)

I love it when my big chive pots come into flower and usually use the bounty atop various salads both for looks and taste ! Un my part of Australia have not seen such for sale. Tasty prawn fritters tho’ the dipping sauce will probably have yoghurt as its base . . .

I’ve never seen flowering chives, but this looks like such a lovely dish and a delicious recipe, Ronit. Edible flowers are all the rage now; I guess I’ll have to get on board with that, and your recipe is a great way to start.

Ronit, I love fritters but haven’t tried them with chive blossoms. I love the rice flour idea and can’t wait to give this a try. Oh, and the dipping sauce, well let’s just say it’ll be used for more than fritters. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Ron, I’m glad you liked the dish. The flowers added such nice flavor and color, and I loved how light the fritters were, thanks to the use of rice flour. The dipping sauce is my take on Thousand Islands dressing. Glad you liked it. :)

I used to grow chives and I never thought to use the blossoms. It’s so stunning as a garnish! I feel quite sad I didn’t think of this before. This seems like such a great seasonal recipe. I can’t wait to give it a try. Cheers!

Your recipes are always so inspiring. I’ve pinned and will be making the fritters as soon as I get some rice flour. I used to grow chives in my gardens in New England. The flowers are nice to add to a pretty little bottle of vinegar. I will turn lavender in color and the vinegar has a wonderful mild chive flavor.

I’ve grown chives as long as I can remember and I never knew one could eat the flowers! You’d be so sad if you saw all of the blossoms I had to dead head this past week. But there will be more! These fritters look wonderful. I think I’d prefer shrimp over crab…

Thank you Sheryl, I’m glad you’ve found the post helpful. I’ve used edible flowers before, but this was the first time I encountered chives flowers. It was a very pleasant surprise. I hope you’ll enjoy them too. :)